Walter Georg Kühne (February 26, 1911 in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

– March 16, 1991 ibid.) was a German paleontologist, known as a "legendary explorer of

Mesozoic The Mesozoic Era is the Era (geology), era of Earth's Geologic time scale, geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous Period (geology), Periods. It is characterized by the dominance of archosaurian r ...

mammals". He graduated in March 1930 from reform boarding school '' Schule am Meer'' on the island of Juist in Prussia. In 1958 he founded the Institute for Paleontology of the

Free University of Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public university, public research university in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in West Berlin in 1948 with American support during the early Cold War period a ...

. His studies focused specifically on mesozoic microfaunae, seeking to bring to light the history of the oldest mammals, which until the 1960s was almost unknown. Before him, findings of species of small size in the continental Mesozoic deposits had been mostly random. His efforts were concentrated more in excavations in lignite mines which he considered as preferred deposits for the remains of terrestrial vertebrates. Thanks to his efforts new species could be described that were interpreted as the most primitive mammals as

Morganucodon ''Morganucodon'' ("Glamorgan tooth") is an early mammaliaform genus that lived from the Late Triassic to the Middle Jurassic. It first appeared about 205 million years ago. Unlike many other early mammaliaforms, ''Morganucodon'' is well represent ...

and Kuehneotherium, as well the proto-mammal Oligokyphus. He was the first to discover the immense paleontological heritage of the famous Guimarota lignite mine in Portugal to start methodological, accurate excavations in the area.

. W.Crompton tells the story of a German refugee named Walter Kuhne, who at the start of World War II walked into Cambridge University with teeth from a borderline mammal. "I know where to discover early mammals," he told the British paleontologist F. R. Parrington. Parrington was impressed enough to offer him £5 (about $35 then) for every additional tooth he brought to the university.William J. Cromie, "Oldest mammal is found", ''Harvard Gazette'', May 24, 2001
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References

*Rolf Kohring, "Walter Georg Kühne, 1911-1991" ''News Bulletin of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology'' volume 153(1991) pages 46–47. * *Much of this page is a translation from the Italian Wikipedia entry for the subject. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kuhne, Walter Georg 1911 births 1991 deaths German paleontologists